Be careful of the fake WhatsApp, a new scam on the Play Store that threatens your smartphones

Unfortunately, here we go again, again Google filters were not effective enough to neutralize yet another scam on the Play Store. There is talk of new WhatsApp and obviously not in its original form, but in a fake version that could hide dangerous malware for your Android smartphone.

As you can see yourself from the screenshot below the application does not seem to arouse suspicion, thanks to the classic cover image and a good average rating of 4.2 stars. Instead it is a fake, as demonstrated by the author “Whatshup” which published the application under a false name, since the original is called WhatsApp Messenger. The description is also full of keywords as “Whatsapp Android” or “WhatsApp chat” to drive the research of unsuspecting victims.

The application, following numerous reports resulting from a thread on Reddit, was fortunately removed from the Play Store at the time of writing, after weeks of undisturbed activities. Of course, we strongly recommend you stay away from these types of applications, trying to be careful to author, comments and backgrounds. Certain fake applications, such as this fake WhatsApp, may bring with them malware, phishing or whatever; unfortunately it is not the first time we discover such activity on the Play Store, and perhaps not the last.

How do you think that Google can shield themselves from the bad guys hiding behind false and misleading applications? What is certain is that something has to change for the sake of Android less experienced users who are increasingly easy targets for theft of personal data or of a different nature virus. As always, let us also know your opinion about it in the comment box.